Sofia Ilmonen, Fashion designer

Does creativity thrive on the freedom of abundance, or does it flourish through restraint and scarcity? The work of acclaimed fashion designer Sofia Ilmonen strongly argues for the latter. While her creations exude a dreamy and imaginative appearance, they are rooted in a rigorous systemic approach to sustainability.

I worked in London for a decade in fashion as a dressmaker and pattern cutter until the pace in the core of the fashion business started to feel like too much. The thinking surrounding sustainable development was always important to me, but it was in London where I understood that a single employee’s influence is quite limited. This realisation made me want to work in a different way, more in line with my values.

I applied and was accepted to Aalto University’s master’s programme in fashion. During my studies, I was thinking about how I could find a completely new entry point into making clothes and fashion. A more sustainable fabric can always be found, but is that a big enough change? It felt like it wasn’t. I longed for a more systematic change, and this involved aiming not only at better materials but also smaller volumes.

I finally came up with the thought of constructing a clothing item from square pieces, the order of which could be altered even endlessly. The piece of clothing could be taken apart and reassembled – with changing silhouettes, but always using the same building blocks. Fashion lives and changes. Maybe a piece of clothing can also change?

In my master’s thesis, The Sustainable Possibilities of Transformable Design, I considered the opportunities of modular clothing from the viewpoint of sustainable fashion. At the same time, I was putting together my collection during the coronavirus pandemic. From time to time, I stopped to think whether anyone would understand my idea, but I went ahead and grabbed a pile of square pieces, and started assembling the collection piece by piece.

Maybe that is why I felt some disbelief when I was selected as a finalist in the prestigious Hyères competition, and all the more so when I won the festival’s sustainability prize. It started to feel like my idea ought to be developed further. I founded a company carrying my name and got to work.

My background in dressmaking has proven to be extremely useful in my design work. My mother taught me how to sew already as a child, but it was specifically my years of working in London for Alexander McQueen that most influenced the modular structure of my clothes. Working as an atelier seamstress, I was impressed by how highly esteemed technical skills and hand crafting were.

My approach to fashion design is sometimes even technical. While working on my master’s thesis, I was asked whether the modules I created had become a limitation for myself. I don’t feel like that myself, on the contrary. I feel like a better designer when I work within the boundaries I created.

I love ruffles, voluminous hems, dramatic moods, and colours. My aesthetic is quite the opposite to typical Finnish minimalism.

A bad fit is one of the most common reasons to give up a piece of clothing. That is why I wanted to create unsized clothing, which is then formed on the body to find the right fit. It doesn’t take anything away from the beauty of the clothes. I love ruffles, voluminous hems, dramatic moods, and colours. My aesthetic is quite the opposite to typical Finnish minimalism.

I want to make romantic and feminine clothes, which are at home on the fashion circuit and catwalks, as well as in many wardrobes. The modifiable clothing resonates with the human longing for novelty. When the same dress can be transformed into many looks, we can create beauty with less. I also hope that my clothes can inspire many people to examine their own wardrobes with new eyes.

When the same dress can be transformed into many looks, we can create beauty with less.